Federation of Small Businesses in the UK demands minimum broadband speed of 100mbps

Antony Savvas |
July 15, 2014

Thousands of firms are still on dial up.

In response to the report, Mike Smith, Virgin Media business director for small and medium business, said: "There is some great work already underway with initiatives such as the 'SuperConnected Cities' voucher scheme that shouldn't be ignored. Collaboration between industry and government is already bringing benefits to businesses around the country."

He added: "We also need to recognise that a one size fits all approach won't work. Further collaboration needs to focus on tailored solutions that meet the diverse needs of the UK's small businesses. It is only through looking at the challenge that the FSB raises from multiple angles that we, as an industry, can affect change."

Also in response, CityFibre CEO Greg Mesch said, "Around the country businesses are struggling to grow and compete, suffocated by a lack of bandwidth. Even those companies based in newly built business parks can often find themselves only able to access broadband speeds that would have residential customers on the phone to technical support.

"Without access to pure fibre networks the UK's small businesses will be restricted from accessing a new generation of online and cloud services that offer the functionality and flexibility to help them grow."